Editorial
As Indonesia marks 81 years of independence, a familiar pull toward state centralization risks unraveling decades of hard-won democracy and regional unity.
President Prabowo Subianto gestures as he delivers his annual State of the Nation address at the Senayan Legislative Complex in Central Jakarta, while Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka sits next to him, ahead of the country's 81st Independence Day, on Aug. 14, 2026. (Reuters/Stringer)
As a modern nationalist project, the Republic of Indonesia may well be one of the most successful in the world.
With hundreds of ethnic groups and local languages and with a territory spanning the length of Europe, Indonesia has been a cohesive whole for 81 years with a majority of its 280 million population proudly calling themselves Indonesian.
